WATER SUPPLY OF WEST FLORIDA. 
125 
GADSDEN COUNTY. 
LOCATION AND SURFACE. FEATURES. 
The Georgia state line forms the northern boundary of Gadsden 
county. The Ocklocknee River separates it on the east and south 
from Leon County. Liberty County forms part of its southern as 
well as western boundary, while to the extreme west the county ex¬ 
tends to the Apalachicola River. The total area is about 500 square 
miles or 320,000 acres. 
The surface features of the county differ from those of the ad¬ 
joining counties on the east and west. Leon county on the east and 
Jackson county on the west present surface features giving evi¬ 
dence of underlying soluble limestones. Surface streams are few 
and such as occur have for the most part an underground outlet 
through sinks or solution cavities. Erosion in these counties is thus 
carried on principally by solution. Gadsden county, on the con¬ 
trary, is intersected with many large and small surface streams 
which receive the drainage of the county and which have surface 
outlets emptying into the two rivers forming the east and west 
boundaries. Erosion in this county is thus mainly through mechan¬ 
ical wash. 
In general the topography of the county is rolling, becoming 
broken as the Apalachicola River is approached on the west. The 
central portion forms a comparatively level plateau which lies on 
an average from 250 to 300 feet above sea. From this plateau, 
which divides the drainage, the slope is gradual to the eastern and 
southern boundaries of the county. This county is intersected by 
many streams, the largest of which is Little River. The slope to 
these stream channels is frequently quite steep. Near the Apa¬ 
lachicola River the country grows more hilly and broken. The 
streams in this part of the county head in a characteristic manner. 
The main streams have many tributaries and branches which are 
fed by the seepage springs. These springs have eroded deep chan¬ 
nels or gullies which are locally called “steep heads.” Usually 
these heads are not too steep to retain soil and support a growth 
of vegetation although occasionally the descent is almost preci¬ 
pitous. For an account of the conditions which produce these 
heads see the Second Annual Report of this Survey page 262. 
The slope to the Apalachicola River along the western border 
of Gadsden county is abrupt and gives rise to a strip of short leaf 
pine country two or three miles in width. The strip of land is 
analagous in origin to the broken lands which border the Holmes 
